I started an RTS game project - Hot Heads: In the Firefight

I haven't really written blogs, community posts, or anything of the sort before. Also, I consider myself not particularly talkative in real life, so it might be a challenge for me to write something for this initial article. Let's think of it as just my own notes.

(Thanks ChatGPT for redacting my article)

So, hello dev.to! I believe this will be my first post, and I want to share the story of my personal project.

Backstory

I'm currently in my final year at the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics. I've spent four years studying here, and now it's almost time to graduate. My specialization is "Information Systems and Technologies in Gamedev Industry," so for my final project, I decided to create a game using the Unity engine.

To be honest, I really like strategy games, and sometimes I spend my free time playing Company of Heroes, Hearts of Iron, or Civilization. So, it was obvious to me how my game should look.

Start of Development

Alright, I found the genre that, in my opinion, is perfect for my game. Now it's time to choose a game engine. There were several options:

1. Unity engine. The most obvious choice because I've already worked with Unity quite a lot. I've completed several personal projects and participated in hackathons on my own and in several development teams. Also, C# seems really familiar. I have some experience writing code in C/C++ and Java, so learning C# wasn't really hard for me.
2. Unreal Engine. An extremely beautiful engine that works with my favorite language, C++. The main problem is game optimization and a lack of knowledge. I've never worked with UE4 or UE5 before, so it would take a lot of time to acquire the required skills.
3. I had some ideas about writing my own game engine in C++ using Direct3D or OpenGL. Alternatively, I thought about using the Valve's Source Engine. It can be done for sure, but it would take an irrational amount of time to code things that already exist in other engines. That's the challenge I've left for my future projects.

The choice fell on Unity for obvious reasons. So, I started developing my first version of Hot Heads Game.

Setting and Plot

I really love wargames such as Company of Heroes or Hearts of Iron. The main problem is that I couldn't find projects about modern war conflicts. Sure, we have the Wargame series (Wargame: Red Dragon), Warno and Red Alert, but none of those games are perfect for me.
So I started developing my own universe with fictional countries but with real prototypes for weapons and vehicles. I decided to set all the actions in the desert, referring to some events of the past.

Company of Heroes by Relic Entertainment was released in 2006

Key Features

1. Combining RTS and FPS genres. Players can take control of any controllable unit in the first-person shooter format. This feature adds more micro-control to the game, allowing a complete change in the gaming process.
2. Multiple game modes. Besides the classic RTS game format of "capture and control," I want to add some more game modes. Currently, I'm thinking of adding a tower defense mode and a unit spam mode.
3. Some specific unit types and an ammunition system. Every single unit has its own inventory with ammo and grenades. If a unit runs out of ammunition in a fight, it will stop shooting, so the player should use supply vehicles. This type of unit stores an infinite amount of different ammunition and can supply nearby units.
4. Toon style. All 3D models are toon-stylized. Currently, I'm using damianb's 3D models of soldiers, but I'm planning to create my own models in the future (I've already made a similar model of a jet pilot for one of my promo videos).

A-10 Thunderbolt II stylized model

Okay, so I guess that's enough for the initial article. Share your thoughts in the comments, and feel free to leave any ideas on how I can improve both my articles and the game.

GitHub Profile | Hot Heads Repository